Does Anything Ever Change?
by goldfaranth
Summary: Way in the future after the 7th book, a lot of things are different, but Raenef still has a habit for picking up strays. Now, however, it's demon ones!
1. Chapter 1

Author Notes: Please make note that at the end of the 7th book Raenef's two sides are united and he isn't stupid anymore. Also, this story takes place many years after the manga ends, so obviously, a lot of things have changed. Just go with it, k?

Warning: some OOC, OCs, Eventual shounen-ai (is this, or is this not demon diary, come-on),

Disclaimer: Demon Diary does not belong to me. T.T

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Clarisa stood up and brushed off her robes rather self-consciously. She glared at the gate above her. Beyond that gate stood the castle of a Demon Lord, which had been her home until about five minutes ago. … Yes, that's right. She had, once again, blown it. _'But, I mean, well, he DID say I could speak honestly.'__**'Yes, but you know it never means THAT honestly!' **_(AN: She's talking to herself in her mind…no, she's not crazy)Clarisa sighed, _'Well, what to do now? … I think I'll take a break from being a servant, do something for ME for once.'_ Liking this idea, she chose a random direction and started walking.

One month later

After having destroyed multiple villages, and having tortured a fair amount of humans and animals, Clarisa was… well, frankly, she was bored. She almost regretted her decision as she pounded her way, on foot, through the dense forest.

She stepped into one of the rare clearings, smiling at the brief reprieve. She took another step and then heard a loud snap. Before she had a chance to react, something landed on her. Panicked, she cast the first spell she could think of. It promptly didn't work.

Dazedly, she realized that it was a person that had fallen on her: a blonde, with long limbs who was trying (vainly) to detangle him self from her. She quickly detached herself and stood up.

"Hee hee…. Umm…" the boy said, looking up at her from his seat on the ground.

She was about to demand an apology when another figure stepped out of the forest.

"Raenef, " the dark haired man started, "If you would stop avoiding your lessons now…" he stopped as he spotted Clarisa. One of his elegant eyebrows rose. "And you are?" He asked.

Normally, Clarisa wouldn't answer to anybody, but this demon carried an aura of power. He was very powerful, maybe, (though unlikely) a Demon Lord. She swallowed and stood straight. She was powerful too. "I am the demon Clarisa, of the Third Order." She responded.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. "What Demon Lord do you serve?"

She started to answer, and then stopped. "I think I should receive an answer in return."

"Not really, since you are trespassing. However, I am Eclipse, demon of the Third Order."

Eclipse. The demon famous for his cruelty during the Hangma War. She had to consciously stop herself from gulping and stepping back. Something tugged her arm as she tried to gather her wits. Looking down, she saw the blonde boy who had fallen on top of her earlier.

"So, whatcha doing here?" He asked her. He really did sound like a child. She hastily gathered her rapidly fraying thoughts.

"I'm, uhh, traveling through here." She replied looking back and forth between the child on the ground and the scary demon standing nearby. She didn't know which one she was answering. "I, uhh, I should get going." She turned to leave, but was cut off be a wall of flame.

She stared dumbly for a long moment before turning around. Eclipse stood, flames in his hands and his eyes. The still unidentified boy sat on the ground.

"What Lord do you serve?" The taller man asked coldly.

Barely suppressing shivers, Clarisa replied. "I…I serve no Lord." She tried to sound confident, but it came out as a whisper.

'_**Because you went and said something stupid and got fired'**__ 'I hope they don't ask why' _She thought.

"So, why are ya here? Huh? How come?" The blonde boy piped up from his place on the ground.

"I told you. I was just passing through." Clarisa was really anxious to leave—to get out of the presence of the demon Eclipse.

"Oh." The boy responded. "So, why don't ya serve any demon lord? I thought all demons had to; Eclipse said so, 'cause otherwise they wouldn't be 'loud to do nuthin."

Clarisa licked her lips and shifted around. "I should get going. I'll get out of your way, bye!" She edged towards the forest but was again met with a wall of flame.

"Answer the question!" Eclipse said quietly, his voice full of menace.

Clarisa was stuck—which was worse: to admit she had been fired, or continue to be defiant and get fried. _'Well, at least it'll teach me not to do anything for myself from now on.' __**'Of course, you won't get the chance to. '**__'Oh, shuddup!'_ "I," she started, " …got, …fired." She was met with blank looks.

"Unlikely." Eclipse declared.

"How cum ya got fired?" the blonde boy asked.

After a glance toward Eclipse, she explained. "My Lord, asked me a question, and told me to speak honestly…I did" When it became clear that the boy didn't understand she added. "He didn't mean for me to be so honest."

The boy considered this for a moment, "It doesn't seem very fair. So, ya don't got a place to live, right?"

"That is correct, which is why I am traveling, and would like to be on my way." She replied.

"You can stay at this castle." The boy told her.

"I am not sure that that is true." She answered.

"Sure it is. Cum'on, it's gonna rain soon so we should go in." He scrambled to his feet and ran toward Eclipse. Looking up at Eclipse the boy simply said, "let's go." The boy started off through the forest. Clarisa hesitated; it was not likely a good idea to take this child's word.

A voice cut through her reverie. "You might want to follow him." She started and looked in the direction of the voice. Eclipse stood there. "Bu—…" she started. "If he says you may stay at the castle, you may." He interrupted her. "Now, go."

With a sigh, she followed the rapidly disappearing boy up to the castle.

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Author's Note: So, umm, this is my first story. I know I'm not the best writer but I hope you've found this passable. Reviews and constructive criticism appreciated—unless it really does just suck, please, tell me if it does and I won't torture you with another chapter.

I couldn't find how to spell it anywhere, so that's my guess…. It's probably wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

Author Notes: Please make note that at the end of the 7th book Raenef's two sides are united and he isn't stupid anymore. Also, this story takes place many years after the manga ends, so obviously, a lot of things have changed. Just go with it, k?

Warning: some OOC, OCs, some Shounen-ai (is this, or is this not demon diary, come-on),

Disclaimer: Demon Diary does not belong to me. T.T

**Chapter 2**

When they had finally arrived, the boy turned to her. "I'm Rae, by the way. Joshu can show you your room and stuff." After this he disappeared.

Clarisa looked around, lost. "Please, come this way." A voice behind her said. She spun around. A tall demon with longish brown hair stood across the room. "I'm Joshu, follow me." He turned and walked away. She followed him.

He showed her to a room. There were a few lesser demons scurrying around making the bed and cleaning and setting things right. "I apologize, but Rae didn't warn us he was bringing somebody in."

She felt a little more comfortable with this new man, so she explained. "I didn't exactly know either. Nor do I understand. He ran into me out on the grounds and decided I would stay here." She sounded like she felt—tired and helpless.

The other man smiled. "Don't worry. You get used to Rae's ways. At least you've got to give him that he's like-able."

"I suppose, but is he really able to say I can stay here. Isn't it the Demon Lord's choice?"

"Yes, of course. But really, what Rae says goes. Even our Lord likes him—even _Eclipse_ likes him."

"Oh" she replied weakly. It was so confusing.

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Raenef leaned back as strong arms encircled him from behind. Eclipse's breath blew in his ear. "Are you sure about this?" He heard his lover ask him. Raenef looked up.

"_Of course _I am." he replied, "When am I not?"

"Did she really get fired for speaking honestly?" Eclipse asked, knowing better than to try to argue against Raenef's choice.

"Yes."

"Well, that explains it then."

"Huh? Wait, explains what?" Raenef whirled around to look accusingly upward.

"Why you like her so much. You want to hire her because she'll tell you the truth." Eclipse observed.

"Well, maybe I do," Raenef conceded. "Think she'll work out?"

"I haven't a clue." Eclipse replied. "You have Joshu on her—ask him his impression."

"Hmm… yes, and I'll stick her with Marie tomorrow. She's always good at judging people."

"Mmm, that's nice, but that's tomorrow." Eclipse murmured before setting off to remind Raenef that today was good too.

The Next Morning

Clarissa woke in a strange (and comfortable) bed. _'Hmm? Where am I?' __**'Well, I would hope you would remember meeting Eclipse.' **__'And that little kid.' _Her mind suddenly informed her about yesterday's events. She bolted up in the bed. _What had she been thinking??!!_ Surely they didn't just expect her to stay the night and then leave—that would be too convenient.

She rose from her bed, and after a cursory glance at the room, dressed in an outfit she found in the dresser—the clothes fit perfectly. Done, she stepped out of the room to go find someone who might have an idea of what she should be doing. Immediately, she was run into by the boy from yesterday—_'Rae'_ She remembered.

"Oh, hey." Raenef said as he picked himself up. "I was gonna find out if ya were 'wake yet. Cum'mon." He grabbed her sleeve and started pulling her along. …

They arrived at their destination, which was apparently the kitchen.

"Hey, Marie?" Raenef called above the chaos of a working kitchen.

"Right here, Rae." A matronly woman appeared in front of them. She had her hair pulled back tightly; her fair bulk was carried proudly. She might have been intimidating, if her face was not so cheerfully kind. "What's this Rae? A new friend? Have you two eaten yet?" Without waiting for a reply she disappeared, only to reappear a few seconds later carrying a tray of pancakes and other breakfast necessities.

Raenef sat the two of them at a counter in the corner and started to dig in, indicating that she should help herself. Uncertainly, she did so.

Marie walked over to them as Clarissa was finishing up. "Rae," she said, "don't you have lessons this morning?"

"Maybe." Raenef replied cautiously.

"Would you please go then. He last time you didn't show up Eclipse came looking for you and scared all my kitchen workers. I didn't get anything done all day"

"Well, guess I'll go then." Raenef said hopping down from his stool. "See ya." He disappeared.

Clarissa sat there uncertain. Sensing her mood, Marie reassured her, "You can do whatever you want. Stay here for a bit or have a look around."

"But," Clarissa protested, "Am I not supposed to do anything?"

"Well, I'm sure you'll get settled with something eventually. Don't you worry about it until Rae's made a decision about you."

"Rae makes the decision?" Clarissa repeated confused, but Marie had already disappeared off to another part of the kitchen.

Author Notes: Well? What do you think? Does it deserve to be continued? Love it? Hate it? Just OK? Reviews and constructive critisism is loved.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Warning: some OOC, OCs, some Shounen-ai (is this, or is this not demon diary, come-on),

Disclaimer: Demon Diary does not belong to me. T.T

**Chapter 3**

Clarissa wandered aimlessly around the immense corridors. Despite all the interesting happenings of late, she was bored! Coming to the end of a hallway, she noticed there was a library. An extremely dusty library. She went in and looked around.

It was well stocked, with books on just about any subject. She climbed a ladder at one end of a bookshelf and grabbed a book from the top rack. The action sent dust flying everywhere. She almost fell off the ladder due to the subsequent sneezing fit. She quickly cast a spell removing all the dust from her chosen bookshelf. Climbing down with the book, which she had decided seemed interesting, she worked her way over to a comfy chair. This time, she used the dust removing spell before sitting.

two hours later

Something obscured the light from the window, making it difficult to read the book. She glanced up annoyed, only to see Eclipse standing beside her. She started, then regained composure.

"Hello?" She asked experimentally.

"Raenef was looking for you." He said. "Come." He turned and started to walk away.

Clarissa sat stupefied for a moment, before quickly following. _'God, Eclipse is scary.' _She thought. Then another thought came—_'Why__is he me fetching for Raenef?'_

They arrived in a large office-like room, attached to (what looked like) another library. Like the one she just left wasn't enough!

"'ello Clarissa!" Raenef piped up from atop the desk. "What were ya doin' before Eclipse came and got ya?"

"I was reading in the library." Clarissa answered. Raenef stared blankly at her.

"It was the northern one." Eclipse filled in, obviously understanding Raenef's silence.

"Oh." Raenef said unenthusiastically. "That's very boring. How bout coming out to the garden with us?"

"Um, I guess so." She answered. _'Do I have a choice? I AM a guest. Even if I don't know why.'_

"Cool." Raenef cheered. "Let's GO!" And they were abruptly in the garden.

Clarissa was confused. _Raenef_, bumbled headed as he seemed, could not possibly have cast a transportation spell strong enough to move herself unwillingly (aka unexpectedly), not to mention Eclipse. Unless Eclipse cast the spell. Yes, that seemed like a safe excuse. Clarissa decided she would use that one.

With this decided, Clarissa took a moment to look around. There were quite a few people here. Most of them were male demons. "Why are we in the garden?" She finally had the idea to ask.

"Oh," Raenef answered. "Cause the guards a practicing, and I'm s'posed to watch as part of my lesson."

"So… why am I here." Raenef's explanation had failed to shed any light onto anything.

"Cause I never pay attention in my lessons and it gets boring when I don't have anything to do, so I invited ya 'cause you're more interesting."

Author Note: Hey all, sorry it's been so long since my last update. And the fact that this one is so short. School sucks. It's kept me busy. Actually I wrote this while procrastinating on a project I should really have been working on… anyway please review, comments and suggestions welcome.


	4. Chapter 4

Clarissa didn't know if she should be annoyed or amused at the idea of being a distraction for a young boy, who, it would seem, would not be difficult to distract

Author Notes: I'm sorry I update so infrequently! School's almost over though, so it should become more frequent, hopefully, unless I get lazy…

Warning: some OOC, OCs, etc, see earlier chapters for notes and such

Disclaimer: Demon Diary does not belong to me. T.T

**Chapter 4**

Clarissa didn't know if she should be annoyed or amused at the idea of being a distraction for a young boy, who, it would seem, would not be difficult to distract. Before she had time to ponder this for too long, the guards started their practice. They paired up and were set to dueling each other. They were fairly good, Clarissa observed.

"Anyway," Raenef continued, "They do th' same thing every day. It's boring." He began kicking a hole in the ground.

"Why did you invite me to stay here?" Clarissa asked, hopeful that, seeing as it did not have to do with what he was avoiding paying attention to, she would get an answer.

"Well, no reason really, ya just seemed int'resting." Raenef answered her.

"Really," she retorted, miffed at his vague answers, "How long do I get to stay in your wonderful company and entertain you?"

"Dunno, are ya always so int'resting?" He questioned, tilting his head upwards, innocently. _Yea right!_

Clarissa fumed. This kid was messing with her! _Her! A third-order demon! _Something was **so** not right here.

Raenef saw her fuming—the smoke was nearly coming out of her ears! Annoying the poor demon-lady was so fun, but… He **did** want to ask her to work for him, so he couldn't make her **TOO** mad at him.

"How 'bout stayin' here?" He asked suddenly.

Clarissa blinked rapidly. "What?" She was lost, _such a quick change!_ Before she could get a repeat or clarification, Eclipse interrupted them.

"Now, since you've been paying attention, why don't you try." He said evenly. Raenef looked up with puppy eyes.

"Aw, 'Clipse. Cum'on gimme a break today?" He asked.

"No," was his answer. "You need to learn how to perform a basic and advanced shielding spell… _properly._"

Raenef grumbled a bit before heading up to the group. One demon detached himself from the group and headed forward to meet Rae.

He was a large man, bulky and with powerful magic. You could tell by his aura that he was a demon of the third order. She noticed for the first time that most of the other soldiers were third or first order demons. There were no very weak ones at the castle—even the maids who had been working in the kitchen had been of second order. How odd, usually each Demon Lord had only a few high level demons in his service—too many if them in one place would be a threat to the Demon Lord. Who, she wondered, was the Demon Lord here?

Her next thought was, why was the young boy practicing against such a powerful demon? You could barely tell that he was a demon; he gave off no evil aura and seemed not to have any magic, though she knew this not to be the case.

"You ready?" The large demon asked.

"Yup, guess so." Raenef replied. "Umm…what's the incantation again?" He turned around to Eclipse for the answer.

Eclipse repeated the words to him with what could almost be considered annoyance.

"M'kay!" Raenef chirped happily as he turned back to his opponent. "Ready!" He yelled.

His opponent shot a spell at him almost immediately. It was easily blocked, much to Clarissa's surprise.

The older demon shot a slightly more powerful spell at Raenef, it was again blocked. Clarissa was again surprised. This pattern continued for some while, the spells got continuously more powerful. Eventually, Eclipse called an end to the practice.

As they ended, Raenef turned back to them and skipped over. He grinned up at Eclipse. "Well?" He queried. "How'd I do?"

"You did well, but you should have switched over to the more powerful shield earlier. You cannot rely on your opponent's spell being exactly as strong as you predict." He began to lecture Raenef on exactly when to use each level of shielding.

Clarissa blocked them out as they walked up to the castle. She suddenly realized that she was very comfortable in their presence, despite having only been there two days.

Her mind went back to Raenef's unexpected invitation earlier. _"How 'bout stayin' here?"_ he had asked. _'I wonder if he meant it.'_ _**'I doubt it.'**_ _'It would be nice though.'_

They reached the castle and dispersed. Clarissa headed back to the library she had been in earlier.

Clarissa had finished the book she had picked up that morning, returned it to its proper position and searched for another interesting read. There were many, but somehow, she did not feel like reading—for once. She sighed and flopped back into her reading chair without a book. She stared out at nothing.

"Hello-o" she heard, and a hand waved in front of her face.

She blinked rapidly, "Wha-?" She began.

"It dinner time! Cum'on!" Raenef said from about 3 inched from her face. He then proceeded to pull on her arm until she stood up and followed him from the room.

Dinner was uneventful, if not exactly quiet. They ate lunch in a nook off of the kitchen. Raenef chattered throughout the meal. Afterwards, when Raenef got up, she started to leave for the library again.

"Wait!" He called after her.

"What?" She asked.

"Do ya have an answer 'bout what I said earlier?"

She frowned slightly.

"'Bout stayin' here an' workin'." He prompted her.

"Oh, well" she stuttered, "Are you really allowed to make that sort of decision?"

" 'Course I am. Why else would I ask?"

"Well, umm, isn't it the Demon Lord's decision?" She explained.

"I guess sometimes, but I always ask if people want to stay. I asked Marie ya know, an' Joshu. I'm kinda good at chosin' so I got put in charge of that I guess." He told her.

"Oh," she replied weakly. "Well, I guess I could think about it then." She hoped he would give her time. She wanted to check with Marie and see if it was true, that Rae could do that. _'And maybe Eclipse, too. Because Marie really likes Rae, so she might lie.'_

"Sure, that's fine I guess." He answered. "Ya can tell me by the day after t'morow."

Clarissa nodded and hurried off to the safety of her room.

Author Note: Please review and tell me what you think. Helpful critique is just as welcome as complements.


	5. Chapter 5

Author Note: I want to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed for previous

chapters. I don't know if authors usually reply to them or not, but I don't usually know what to say, I'm really bad about that, but I really really really do appreciate them.

Warnings: All the usual warnings that applied before apply now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Demon Diary. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, it is

probably a better story because I don't own it.)

**Chapter 5**

The first part of the next day passed as a blur for Clarissa. Nobody said anything to her about her talk with Raenef last night. She read, ate, wandered around, and sat in on the oddest lessons. She barely noticed—she kept thinking about the night before. _'I should ask Eclipse.'__** 'How exactly do I broach **_**that **_**subject?'**_ She sighed. She had no clue.

She had been wandering through the halls aimlessly for some length of time when she came to a room of interest: a library. A different library. _'What kind of Demon Lord lives here? You never see him, and he keeps, not ONE __**huge**__ library, but TWO?? I just don't get it.' _She walked in and looked around. Amazingly enough, there were different books than in the first library. She hadn't realized there were that many books in the world.

After two isles of books, she turned the corner and ran into Eclipse. Well, almost ran into. "I'm sorry." She mumbled and moved quickly out of the way. He nodded and moved past her. He was apparently looking for something specific.

"Umm," She began. "Can I ask you something?"

"I suppose you can," Eclipse replied, "as you seem to have already done so."

Clarissa rolled her eyes. "_May_ I ask you something?"

"Yes."

"Well, I was talking to Rae yesterday evening and well… He asked me to stay here, but I don't think it's really his place to ask, but I can't really tell him 'no' straight out…" She explained.

Eclipse stood silent. Clarissa was confused by this.

"Umm, well, I wondered if you could help me out with that?" She tried.

"I can resolve one part of your worries, but I am afraid I don't understand what you wish from me." He told her.

"Which part?" She asked. Talking to Eclipse was so _frustrating._

"Raenef, does in fact, have the authority to request your presence at the castle."

"Oh," she replied confused. "I don't get that, but, I guess that solves my problem. I sort of like it here…" she trailed off.

"But I still don't get what he is asking me to do." She muttered. "Thank you for answering my questions, Eclipse." He acknowledged her thanks and returned to his search. She left for the more familiar (comforting) library.

The next day came too quickly. Today was the day she had to give her answer to Raenef. _'Well, I like Rae, and Eclipse is scary, but not awful really. And Marie and Joshu are very nice, but… I don't know anything about the Lord.' _

'_**Well, he puts up with Rae, gives him quite a bit of authority, actually.' **_

'_Yeah, well, I don't know that that is comforting. I mean, think about what people would say about me serving an idiot. I'd be a laughing stock.'_

'_**Well, Eclipse manages to deal with it. I imagine he would be more against serving a worthless Lord than I am.'**_

'_True, but…'_

'_**Besides, being unemployed might be an even bigger embarrassment, I mean, it just isn't done.'**_

Her arguments with herself were not going anywhere. She already knew it would be better for her to accept, but… "I don't even know his NAME" she grumbled. "Or her, I don't even know that much."

She wandered towards the main entry hall. She was trying to avoid Rae for the rest of the day. It probably wouldn't happen, but it was a nice thought. She headed though the hall towards the garden. Just before she left the hall, a "poof" sounded behind her, followed by smoke and an annoying voice.

"Hello! The amazing Lord Krayon is here to see your Lord!" _'God, he's annoying…wait…Krayon?! The Demon Lord here gets visits from Krayon?' __** 'Huh. Interesting. He doesn't actually visit people, except at parties—which there is definitely NOT one of here today.'**_ _'He's actually powerful too.' _

"He is in his study." Eclipse's voice responded. Clarissa started—she had forgotten that Krayon was still there. Krayon disappeared in another cloud of smoke—presumably to go find the Demon Lord, _who she still didn't know!_

Clarissa marched angrily into the garden. She spent a good hour kicking at rocks and roots and anything else that looked like it might be 'kickable.' Her frustration was giving way to boredom. Eventually she flung herself down in the shade of a large tree. Really, she thought—this garden is much too green and nice to be at a Demon Lord's castle.

She laid back, hands under her head. Above her and just inside her view, was a balcony. Movement caught her eye, and she saw that there were people in the room. One, she recognized by the voice that drifted to her on the wind—it was that annoying _Lord _Krayon. The other one, she strained her eyes to see.

It was Raenef.

_'What reason does a Demon Lord like Krayon have for talking to someone like Rae?' _she wondered. Curious, she decided to move closer to the balcony to hear.


End file.
